Options flow · daily recap

Options flow recap, Oct 21, 2026: unusual options activity and the biggest trades

Data from the session · 20 tickers · published 8:00 AM ET, Oct 22

On Oct 21, 58% of the $1.23B in large option prints across the 20 tickers here was bought, where a side is known; 58% was in calls, a put/call premium ratio of 0.72.

QQQ led on Oct 21 with $199.1M, ahead of SPY ($144.7M) and TSLA ($143.4M).

On Oct 21 the most call-heavy was AMZN (79% calls) and the most put-heavy IWM (76% puts).

Bought / sold58% / 42%
Calls / puts58% / 42%Put/call premium ratio 0.72
Total premium$1.23B2,692 large prints

All 20 tickers

TickerBoughtCalls / putsPremiumP/CPrints
QQQ
56%
47%
$199.1M
1.13483
SPY
67%
42%
$144.7M
1.36394
TSLA
53%
78%
$143.4M
0.28290
SPCX
57%
74%
$128.8M
0.34352
META
56%
51%
$103.7M
0.98139
MU
62%
55%
$103.7M
0.80123
CRWV
88%
75%
$53.8M
0.3364
NVDA
54%
72%
$45.6M
0.38154
IWM
61%
24%
$40.5M
3.2592
AMZN
62%
79%
$40.3M
0.2764
SMH
72%
43%
$39.6M
1.3453
AMD
34%
59%
$38.7M
0.7185
GOOGL
44%
55%
$33.1M
0.8162
NBIS
66%
66%
$28.1M
0.5241
INTC
47%
52%
$21.4M
0.9387
AVGO
45%
55%
$19.7M
0.8047
PLTR
36%
73%
$19.6M
0.3657
AAPL
45%
48%
$17.5M
1.0962
ORCL
61%
59%
$9.9M
0.6925
SOXL
59%
63%
$3.6M
0.5818

BoughtSoldCallsPuts

Largest trades by premium

On Oct 21, SPY's 5 largest prints carried the most premium, $49.7M (34% of its session), $45.1M of it bought.

  1. SPY$49.7M
  2. TSLA$42.1M
  3. CRWV$34.7M
  4. QQQ$31.0M
  5. META$27.9M
  6. SMH$23.8M
  7. SPCX$23.5M
  8. MU$21.0M

BoughtSoldNo side

Sector rotation at the Oct 21 close

The close

At the Oct 21 close the S&P 500 (SPY) at 773.09 (+0.53%), the Dow (DIA) at 527.70 (+0.64%) and the NASDAQ 100 (QQQ) at 725.20 (+1.05%), with the VIX at 16.68.

DOW (DIA)527.70+0.64%
S&P 500 (SPY)773.09+0.53%
NASDAQ (QQQ)725.20+1.05%
VIX16.68−3.64%

Where money rotated

On Oct 21, 7 of 12 sectors rose and 3 of 12 beat the S&P 500; over the week money left Communication Services and Technology for Consumer Discretionary and Materials.

1DOut ofComm. SvcsTechnologyIntoIndustrialsFinancials
1WOut ofComm. SvcsTechnologyIntoCons. Disc.Materials
Sectors up7/12
Beat S&P3/12

LeadingImprovingWeakeningLagging

Quadrant crossings

Comm. SvcsImprovingLagging

Communication Services moved from Improving to Lagging on Oct 21: below-average strength against the S&P 500, with momentum falling.

RetailLeadingImproving

Retail moved from Leading to Improving on Oct 21: strength still below average, but momentum rising.

Sub-sectors against the S&P 500, 1W

In the week to Oct 21, IT Services (Technology) led the S&P 500 by 11.1 points, while Semicon Equip (Technology) trailed it by 9.0 points.

  1. IT Services+11.1
  2. Aggregates+8.2
  3. Data+7.7
  4. Semicon Equip−9.0
  5. Networking−6.1
  6. Cybersecurity−4.4

Breadth: names above their 50-day average

At the Oct 21 close, Energy had the most names above their 50-day average (80%) and Real Estate the fewest (20%).

  1. Energy80%
  2. Health Care74%
  3. Cons. Staples70%
  4. Utilities68%
  5. Materials64%
  6. Technology58%
  7. Industrials48%
  8. Financials46%
  9. Cons. Disc.44%
  10. Comm. Svcs33%
  11. Real Estate20%

Risk appetite

As of the Oct 21 close the gauges read mixed: the VIX term is relaxed; credit shows strain; small caps trail the S&P 500; the average stock leads the S&P 500.

  1. Credit−1.6 stressed
  2. VIX term0.93 calm
  3. Cyclicals−1.3 even
  4. Small caps−2.6 narrow
  5. Equal weight+1.8 broad

20 sessions; VIX term at its close. It describes the market, not a forecast.

Standout, 20 sessions

Over the 20 sessions to Oct 21, Cruise in Consumer Discretionary was the strongest S&P 500 group (+25.2% median, +24.5 points against the S&P 500), and RCL its strongest name above its 50-day average (+25.2%).

Leading sectorHealth CareLeading
#1 sub-sectorCruise+25.2%
Standout nameRCL+25.2%

It shows where money has been going, not a forecast.

The live rotation, its chart and the full sector tables are in MomoEdge.

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Totals cover the large and unusual option prints the MomoEdge feed records in a session, not every trade. Bought means more of a print's premium traded at the ask than at the bid; sold, the reverse. Pages update at 8:00 AM ET on the morning after each trading session. Educational content, not financial advice. Market data from licensed third-party providers.